Clown Loach Trouble

[Merley-moo]

Hi everyone!

Just a quick question about my clown loaches destroying my plants.
I bought some plants for my tank and had it all planted up nicely. After a few days i started to notice bits of plant floating on the top of the tank, i assumed that the fish may have just shown a general interest to something new and been a but rough with the plants. The problem got worse and i began to notice that the plants looked almost like they had been nibbled off at the base. After general examination of the tank, i noticed that my clown loaches seemed to take great pleasure in nipping the base of the plants, eventually leading to the whole thing being ruined!
I had planted them as deep as possible but that didn't stop the little buggers! Just wondering if anyone has any advice on how i can avoid this happening again
Thanks

 

[shang hi]

how big is the tank? how many clown loaches do you have?
if you dont have a tank of about 400l then clownloaces are not for you and they like to be in groupes of 4+ (preferiably 6+). it could be a sign of them not getting enough food make sure they are supplyed with some fast sinking food (tables work well).
as for the nibiling give them some green veg and see if it stops.

 

[Luketendo]

400L is a little drastic. 55g is ok but if you want a group you're good with 300L.

 

[shang hi]

i say they look happyer in a 400l but they can live in 300l........... (never ending dots for that one luke ) ..............

 

[Luketendo]

Obviously bigger the better..

 

[Merley-moo]

I have 2 loaches. They are really tiny at the moment and are currently in a tank, i believe is around 200l. I don't have a lot of fish though as i like them to have plenty of room. I have read that loaches grow slowly so at the moment there is ample room although i shall be upgrading the beginning of next year.
They get plenty of food so i think maybe they just enjoy digging at the plants?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Clown dig, if a plant happens to get in the way, too bad. I find that sticking with solid rooting plants like larger swords or using ferns/anubias attached to wood/rock works a lot better than most stem plants.

 

[Merley-moo]

I shall take your advice, thanks to everyone for the help

 

[CrashingWaves]

Clown Loaches personalities seem to vary from fish to fish. My original three clown loaches didn't bother the plants in my tank at all. I added one clown loach after that, and all hell broke loose in the plant department of my fish tank. As said above, clown loaches are knowing from digging around in the sand or small gravel, and any plants that get in the way will commonly be destroyed.

God Bless,
Joshua

 

[Ian H]

yeah one of mine does it, always find it amusing when i look in the tank to see half a clown loach poking out of the gravel

Also they are meat eaters so a bit of bloodworm or simular wouldnt be a bad idea

 

[Jules H-T]

Clowns love prawns.

 

[CrashingWaves]

Clowns love snails too, I think they almost enjoy the challenge of getting them out of their shell as well. Clown loaches tend to enjoy more meaty foods. One thing I suggest is that when you, or your family eats shrimp cocktail, and they shrimp are simply boiled, you can take the remaining meat and use that for your fish.

What I mean is, generally people eat them, and you're left with a pile of tails. What most people don't realize is just how much meat is still left there. If you have the time, just take each tail and remove the remaining meat from the body, freeze it, and you have a nice snack for your fish for awhile to come .

God Bless,
Joshua

 

[coolcuts]

they love cucumber!! use a couple of stripes of lead to keep them on the bottom evenly.

I give my 3 loach a cucumber (10mm thick) every day and only the skin is left the next day.